NY State... replacing a shrub here or there is "not" a capitol improvement and is sales taxed.....an entire side of a building. Or, the entire left or right side of a front is replanted...that is a capitol improvement. It is not sales taxed.......An entire lawn area is renovated for seeding or sod is "not" sales taxed.....if a portion of a section of lawn area is repaired, that is sales taxed.

Any tree planted or removed is "not" sales taxed.

Maintenance is sales taxed

For tax write off purposes......I would be under the assumption that if the building is a business.....expenses to improve, enhance, maintain and repair is a write off.....in the case of the pond that was done themselves.....all materials used should be able to be written off.....Probably would not be able to write off your labor, unless can prove that additional time out of the ordinary was utilized.

It makes no sense that such expenses could not be written off. These things are done so as to enhance, improve, maintain and repair for the business.......Now.....information I have gathered from you all......You live in the place of business....and you are able to write off the homes/business expenses. Less the percentage that you occupy.......The same should and would apply to such things installing landscaping, ponds, etc......

Which is the similar for me......In house office, garage utilized for business purposes....I can write off the percentage declared for home expenses.....Like 10 percent of utilities

Your local accountant should be the person to ask

My accountant has no problem with what I do.......he did ask if I use my home as a show/display place for customers......and I do.....

Goes with whether or not it is a Capital Improvement. Capital improvements are not taxed that is why the contractor has to file the form. You don't have to but they do to justify not charging the tax.

I have never been able to "pay" myself for work I've done. I pay sales tax on the items I purchase. These items are all calculated into the percentage I pay i.e. 100, 2/3, maintenance, tools, advertising, etc.

Guess it works out in the end because you saved alot of money and have had the satisfaction of a job well done. Of course your time, sweat and energy has all been put in.

But the saying still stands, if you want something done right, do it yourself. And if you don't know how, just try it. Heck you might like it and find a hidden talent you never knew you had.

I guess the point of this whole thread is this is about a B&B landscaping and ponds. Not any other business. This is what the forum is geared toward. So from the pov of the innkeepers on the forum you cannot write off or deduct any yard/grounds improvements, but check with your accountant in your area, as you are the one dealing with the IRS and responsible. But from the training at innkeeper conferences, those who own inns and work with a ton of improvements on a regular basis, the answer is no, you can't.

Always always check with your accountant, but with many years behind me and a father and grandfather that were both accountants, landscaping any property is considered a leasehold/property improvement and would be amortized, not be a deductible expenditure.

Same as any other large purchase such as the dreaded pool, a new stove etc. However repairs to the dreaded pool would be at some % deductible, I would venture to say not 100% since you can use it as well and any business expense not solely for the business is not 100% deductible.

When I had my yard landscaped I used a local company. Because shrubs and plants were put in it became a "Capital Improvement". This is in New York.

My B&B is not open yet but I have always been a 3 family home.

The company that did the work had to report it to the government on a capital improvement form.

Because you did the work yourself, hats off to ya, it may not be deductible as such.

Consult with your accountant as others have suggested.

Each accountant will vary I am sure. But I was told that NO improvements in landscaping no matter who does it was deductable - but I'm talking federal, not state. That does not mean there are more ways than one to skin a horse. The accountant who was speaking was known for not having any creativity in seeking more than one way to work the numbers.

The KEY to it being a Capital Improvement was based on the fact that I had shrubs, etc. planted. If I had just had the old overgrown, semi-dead bushes removed and paving stones, mulch, it would not have been considered a Capital Improvement.

The KEY to it being a Capital Improvement was based on the fact that I had shrubs, etc. planted. If I had just had the old overgrown, semi-dead bushes removed and paving stones, mulch, it would not have been considered a Capital Improvement.

Just a quirk in the law.

This is why we always tell people to hire a tax accountant or a tax lawyer in their own area. Given all the different counties, states, countries involved on this forum no one here should even attempt to help someone with a tax question. Even minor things, like a shrub for Pete's sake, can be different in every locale.

Here- it's the same thing as everyone else is saying- no can do on writing off landscaping.

Now, if you didn't LIVE at the apt house, that's different. We all live at our businesses. We can't write off landscaping our own yards because we enjoy the benefit of it.

I have an accountant who files my taxes on the long form which I assume will be done also when I open under a business form as I will be a DBA. She has me saving all of my receipts until I open as they are not pertinent right now.

Even though I am not a B&B, this is still considered a BUSINESS. I know you may be offended or perhaps not.

There are people here who comment on being a property owner and renting out is somehow inferior to your commitment. It is not. It is just different. Maybe if I were an absentee landlord I would deserve the attitude.

As I have said before I do not have to prepare their breakfast, make their beds and offer conceirge services to them. However, I do not have the opportunity to think okay, they are PITA'S but they will be gone in a couple of days.

No! I am stuck with them until they decide to move or I give them a 30 day notice. That is why I show my apartments, take applications and then decide. I don't care how much money they want to push on me, not impressed. I live here too and need to be able to feel comfortable with/ who lives here.

I am approx. 1/3 mile off the main road (that's the driveway length) so in the winter when the golfcourse is closed there are very few inhabitants here. When the power or something goes out, we all have to work together.

I look forward to opening a small B&B and I do not veiw it as a 18 hour a day job. If I am working out in the yard I appreciate the privelege of being able to do so. If I am baking, I find it relaxing.

Look, we do NOT put anyone down and I wish you luck if you think you can do a B & B and it NOT be an 18 hour day. Not being snarky, just speaking from experience.

I do not have a clue in Hell what is allowable and not in your current business but we DO know from expwerience what we - all over the map - have been told for B & B taxes. As we have stated several times - ASK THE ACCOUNTANT or whoever does you taxes in YOUR locale.

You can, as you said, screen your occupants. We however have to take whoever comes down the pike. Some of us have no choice in the kids/no kids and NONE of us have a choice when it comes to ADA animals. So I am going to be the b***** here and say it, get off your high horse and stop being huffy if we give an answer counter to yours. There are a lot of aspiring and newbies lurking and we do not want to give ANY misinformation. That is why we say what we can do where we are BUT ask the experts in YOUR area to be certain

If you read the other remarks I also said to check with their accountant.

The 18 hr days reflects my preference to be at home working on what is a 4th. generation homestead. The ability to make improvements and be outdoors instead of inside of a factory pulling double shifts.

I feel it is a privilege. There is no "high horse" there. Just a fact.

The KEY to it being a Capital Improvement was based on the fact that I had shrubs, etc. planted. If I had just had the old overgrown, semi-dead bushes removed and paving stones, mulch, it would not have been considered a Capital Improvement.

Just a quirk in the law.

Not where we are, if you live there then it is your lawn, your shrubs, your garden no matter who does the installation. There is no capital improvement on those areas for us, not for a B&B anyway. The man to answer this MAY BE "ONE DAY" as he owns a prof landscaping biz. He was here this week on the forum, maybe he can shed some light on it...

We put a new pond/waterfalls, watergarden, wooden bridge, arbors, and flowers in our yard last year for our guests. Total spent was around $1,000. (I'm really proud of that cuz we saved $7,000.!)

What category does that come under when filing taxes??

There may be some legal way around it, but the speakers at the last B&B conference where this was brought up (so this is a couple of years old as far as information) emphatically told me that no landscaping of any kind is deductable. They said it would only be deductable is if it was plants brought in to decorate for a function such as a wedding.

When we asked why they said that the IRS says that you are going to have outside landscaping whether you have a business or not so none is deemed deductable.

We put a new pond/waterfalls, watergarden, wooden bridge, arbors, and flowers in our yard last year for our guests. Total spent was around $1,000. (I'm really proud of that cuz we saved $7,000.!)

What category does that come under when filing taxes??

There may be some legal way around it, but the speakers at the last B&B conference where this was brought up (so this is a couple of years old as far as information) emphatically told me that no landscaping of any kind is deductable. They said it would only be deductable is if it was plants brought in to decorate for a function such as a wedding.

When we asked why they said that the IRS says that you are going to have outside landscaping whether you have a business or not so none is deemed deductable.

Again, this was a couple of years ago.

RIki

Yes!

And another reason to let those new innkeepers or aspiring innkeepers know they need to take some classes. Funny how people want to spend big bucks to buy or open an inn and then take no classes in the field they are going into. Odd. Very odd. They won't even hire a consultant.

You can deduct repairs but not improvements. I do not live in my B&B so it is easier tax wise for me.

The property is not deductible on your taxes. Take the price of the property subtract 20% and the remaining 80% is depreciated over 27.5 years. I use an accountant so if the years is wrong it is because I have not noticed the change. It will be on the depreciation schedule.

I don't think your improvements are deductable as an expense if they have long term value - you will have to consider them an addition to property for depreciation and either expense it under section 179 or depreciate it on a schedule of 5 years.

But if the inn is also a personal residence - not exclusively commercial - I don't think it can be depreciated as a business property at all because it is the outside of your home, not 100% and solely used by guests.

See U.S. master depreciation guide, CCH Tax Law Editors, paste this link

( and look on the following page for an interesting tax case on what someone was able to depreciate as business property)

I am not a tax professional; consult one if you need a professional opinion. I am in the same boat and I decided I can't deduct/depreciate my outside garden and improvements, based on this reference and some other similar info.